Cozmo is unusual. It looks like any other toy robot and will undoubtedly sit alongside the likes of Sphero's BB8 and WowWee's Chip but from the first moment of encounter it's clear that Anki has very different aims for its robotic play-thing.

In fact, in Cozmo we start to see the longer term direction of Anki's robotic character aspirations -- and what likely attracted investments from JP Morgan, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Two Sigma -- the potential to revolutionize how we relate to technology in a variety of fields.

This expectation is primarily driven from Anki's application of robotics through A.I. processing to create a sense of character in a toy usually the preserve of feature films and video-games.

Unboxing Cozmo for the first time was not what I expected. Once charged his OLED eyes sleepily open and he trundles off his charger. Within seconds he looks up, made eye contact and tracked my face as I moved around the table.

Launching the Cozmo app I could tell him my name which he instantly said back to me, as if he had made a new friend. These are the only words he speaks in English, but his verbal communication is diverse and draws on a robot grammar of whirs, chirps and exclamations dependent on his mood and what he's doing. This is backed by a swirling orchestral score that reacts to Cozmo's mood and actions to underline the filmic intentions of the experience.

It was disarming, and made me want to instinctively reach out and pick him up. He was less keen on this idea though, twitching and fidgeting in the hand, wanting to be put down so he could recover his independence.

It makes him kind of hard to review. I could reel off his features and functions -- Caterpillar track locomotion, lifting arms, tilting head, camera, ever active eyes and infra red sensors -- but this is to miss the point. Cozmo is interesting not because of his technology but because of his character.

This is achieved by Anki using animation tools like Maya, usually only applied to movies and games, to create Cozmo's motion. That the team of animators at Anki have experience working on Pixar and Dreamworks pictures is no surprise. But seeing the motions rendered in a physical presence rather than on screen makes an unexpected difference.

A big part of this is Cozmo's embrace of failure. Whereas a linear action in a movie can be guaranteed or curated to succeed or fail, in the real world with actions being triggered by a decision making intelligence there's no such safety net. This means that Cozmo sometimes attempts to do something but doesn't quite manage it.

When this happens, rather than a pregnant pause while the child has to intervene to help the toy, Cozmo responds as any character would -- frustration, embarrassment or sometimes annoyance. For example, if he tried to stack his (precious) cubes in a neat pile but one falls off he can go off in a grump. Or if you interrupt him in the middle of a something he wants to do he can get a little snappy with you.

Cozmo comes in a pack with three power cubes and a charger dock for the $179.99 price. This, along with the free app is all you need to get started. The app let's you see how Cozmo is doing and make decisions about questions he asks you. It also slowly unlocks new abilities in the robot purchased with the in-game currency Sparks.

Anki's Cozmo (Image: Andy Robertson)

But you don't control Cozmo with the app, he's his own guy and needs to be interacted with to get him to do things. There is one mode where you can steer Cozmo around with the app but even this is only through his A.I. decisions so he can still decide whether he wants to go where you are asking him.

While he has hundreds of different combinations of interactions out the box Anki will be updating him as the months go by. This may be new games, different interactions or expanding his verbal repertoire.

Admittedly it's not cheap at $179.99 but this feels on par with products like Sphero BB8 Force Band and Chip. But in terms of value what you are getting is very different. The return on your investment is found in the unexpected interactions that Cozmo creates as much as the clever robotic moves.

In some ways Cozmo is quite a simple robot with limited ways to interact with the world, but the application of these abilities through his personality is the real genius (and value) of the product. Perhaps the bigger challenge for Anki is communicating how different Cozmo is to the competition because in the box it will appear very similar.

Anki's Cozmo Quick Tap (Image: Andy Robertson)

To cap it off there is an SDK that offers access not only to control Cozmo but also to access his range of character interactions. This opens the door to a number of applications that extend beyond simple entertainment to research and education.

As with any product this complex it's tempting to judge it on first impressions, but it will only be through the coming weeks and months that we really get to know Cozmo and all he has to offer.